Hospitals across Australia and in the particularly hard-hit state of New South Wales have been very busy this spring and winter as they try to deal with a 150%-increase in the number of flu cases compared to last year. Health officials are blaming it on a mutant strain of influenza which has killed more than 370 people and infected more than 160,000 so far. It is estimated that up to 85% of the people who received a flu shot this year still contracted the disease.